posted by: Prasad Shetty Jun 16 2009 @ 12:11 pm

When I started reading the book ’True Dummy’ it was like as if I am reading something familiar. Is it another Slum dog Millionaire set in the mountains, I wondered. Village life, mountains, valley of flowers, rivers, small boys, Ammas, shopkeepers & minstrels. ‘True Dummy’ is for the youngistaan to realize their true potential in life.
The saga begins in a small anonymous village; two boys who stay there and dare to dream beyond its geography; leave it in search of their destiny. Over time the unknown character begins his journey to be an actor, from being a ‘dummy pearl’(khota sikha) to a ‘true pearl.’(Hira).
Ashish creates a mirror of the world, a mayanagri, in the novel where our basic human motivations and failings are reflected in a stripped down version—as if in a TV show, where we all come seeking fame or riches, to be the next Indian Idol or the dancing superstar or the next whatever. And we fail: “I wanted to be the most famous and found myself amidst faces that nobody cared to notice. Nervous faces, cowardly faces, depressed faces…faces that said at the first look that they were born to lose.” Sounds familiar? There you go.
A string of incidents; constant directions on how to shine like a ‘true pearl’ and one-liners flow effortlessly from the author’s pen, constantly encouraging scores of youngsters to believe in their dreams and go all out to achieve them.
You will actually re-evaluate your approach towards life after reading this book. If you are successful in life, you might see your success differently after reading ‘True Dummy’. If you are a failure, you might feel otherwise about yourself. You may be inspired to do what the character does in the novel.

So youngistaan dream……….dream big.